Early Parliamentary Elections Underway in Bulgaria
Political advertising on a street in Bulgaria, Oct. 2024. X/ @FT
October 27, 2024 Hour: 11:56 am
The latest polls predict that the ‘Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria’ Party will once again win the election.
On Sunday, Bulgarians went to the polls to vote in the country’s early parliamentary elections, the seventh in three and a half years. Nearly 6.6 million voters are eligible to elect 240 lawmakers among 4,854 candidates from 19 political parties and nine coalitions, as well as one independent candidate.
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The Central Election Commission said that 12,879 polling stations opened nationwide at 7 a.m. local time and are due to close at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, 719 polling stations are available for Bulgarians living abroad to cast their ballots.
Exit polls will be announced immediately after stations close in Bulgaria, and the final results should be announced no later than Oct. 31. The previous election was held in June, but parliament failed to form a regular cabinet, forcing another election.
The National Assembly is Bulgaria’s legislative body. It also elects the government by a simple majority and has a four-year term, except in certain circumstances, such as when it cannot elect a government. Bulgaria has been experiencing a persistent institutional deadlock for three and a half years due to the inability of political parties to form a stable coalition government.
In addition to cross-party vetoes and disagreements over issues like corruption and judicial reform, there are also ongoing debates over the country’s stance regarding Russia and its special military operation in Ukraine.
The latest polls predict that Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), the conservative party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, will once again win the election, as it did in 5 out of the last 6 elections. However, the 25 percent that the party is expected to secure will not be enough for the majority needed in the 240-seat Parliament, meaning it will need to form a coalition with at least 2 out of 7 parties expected to surpass the 4 percent threshold.
One likely coalition partner is the pro-European, reformist alliance We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), with which GERB formed a government for ten months until last March. The coalition collapsed due to disagreements over anti-corruption legislation, forcing the June elections, which failed to produce a government, thus leading to today’s election.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua – EFE
